Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 22

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 22
Publication Date: October 23, 2019

As I’ve noted in the past, the “Sonic” franchise doesn’t reference Halloween nearly as much as a major horror buff and October 31st devotee like me would prefer. However, IDW devoting almost all of 2019 to a zombie-themed story arc has made their “Sonic” a kid-friendly horror book right now. So, fittingly, the end of October didn’t go by without some notice. Issue 22 features a plot appropriate for its October 23rd release date. Even better, a variant cover has the “Sonic” gang dressed-up for trick-or-treating. Omega is a giant jack-o-lantern, Shadow is a vampire, Knuckles is a mummy, Tails a mad scientist, Amy a gothic Lolita, Silver is Nights, and Sonic wears a Werehog hoodie. Bats and pumpkins and candy are present. You have no idea the sheer joy this image brings me.

But that has nothing to do with the issue’s actual content. (Which is a shame, as a story about the gang just going out and having some spooky fun would probably be great right about now...) Instead, “The Last Minute Part 2” shows us how Restoration HQ fell to zombots, as referenced last time. Amy freaks out about the state of the world and Vector argues with Gemerl about dragging the zombified Charmy into the room. This is all a prelude to a random citizen revealing himself as infected. Soon, Zombots have taken over the entire building, claiming both Vanilla and Vector. Only a few make it away.

Like any other popular genre, the zombie movie has its familiar cliches. Flynn has clearly studied these movies and TV shows but doesn’t seem interested in reflecting on their tropes very critically. He indulges in two of my least favorite zombie story stereotypes. First is when people, locked in a location as the world falls apart outside, start bickering among themselves. Gemerl is still learning not to be an asshole, though Vector probably should be criticized for bringing an infected individual, contained in a fragile glass bubble, into a crowded base. But the issue’s main sin is the truly played-out plot twist of an infected person somehow making into a quarantined area and hiding their infection until it’s too late. I can’t believe Flynn plays that one, the hoariest of zombie cliches, so straight.

The noble self-sacrifice is another zombie cliche and “The Last Minute Part 2” does that as well. Throughout this story arc, Flynn has repeatedly referenced Cream keeping a joyful, upbeat personality during this crisis. To the point where I’m sick of everyone praising Cream’s childishly naive attitude. (Yes, I know she is literally a child.) She’s doing this to combat her reoccurring nightmares and the general atmosphere of entombing dread. But Flynn has hammered that same point several times now and I’m bored of it and bored of the character. Instead of throwing the little bunny to the glittery masses as I’d hoped, her mom pushes her daughter away for her own safety.

So, yes, the emotions are high and the situation is downbeat and I’m really ready for the heroes to get a win now. But, ya know, as least it feels a little more humane when compared to the last few issues. Flynn earns points for focusing on characters and their emotions in this moment. Vector is allowed to be unerringly attached to his buddy, even if he’s a zombie now. Amy is allowed to be overwhelmed. Cream is allowed to cry and Vanilla is allowed to be grateful her daughter is safe, even as she’s being turned into a Zombot. There’s a token stop over in Lost Hex, Zavok planning on betraying Eggman naturally, just to remind readers that plot point is still a going concern. But the people (animals?) are given precedence over the grinding, crushing mechanics of the narrative and that’s the way it should be.

One of the most unexpected joys of IDW “Sonic’s” second year has been Flynn redeeming Vector as a character. The Chaotix I love to hate got to be a convincing bad-ass a few issues back and gets to do the same again here. Yes, dragging the infected Charmy back to HQ is some, shall we say, typically Vector-esque planning. Yet there is something noble about his refusal to abandon his friend. Fittingly, Charmy ends up contaminating Vector. Just as they are escaping, the bee flies through the door. The crocodile bear-hugs him, saving the others but infecting himself. Calmly, even coolly, he walks into the zombie zone, never threating about the nanite ooze spreading over his body. He even slickly tells Espio he’s in charge of the Chaotix now as he goes. Goddamn, Ian, stop making Vector cool! It’s fucking up my processors!

After filling in for a few pages last time, Priscilla Tramontano gets to do an entire issue this time. It shows the typical growing pains of a new artist getting use to the “Sonic” style. Tramontano’s action sequences are kind-of stiff. When Amy hammers herself into the air or Vector kicks down a door, it just looks awkward and hard-to-follow. Her characters look a little too geometrical in general, too round in some spots and too straight-lined in others. I wonder if the two pages she contributed to the last issue were drawn after this? Those had a sense of motion and dynamism, while these panels are seriously lifeless.

Vector going against all previous display events and being awesome proves to be the main highlight of another ho-hum issue. After a strong start, the Zombot Crisis has fallen into repetitive or cliched plotting. I never thought a relentlessly bleak run of “Sonic” comics like this would tire me out. I read and loved a lot of relentlessly bleak “Sonic” fan fiction as a teenager! But the book is really needing a change of pace, location, or story in the very near future. (But we won’t get it, because this story arc is scheduled to go on for at least another three months.) [5/10]